Autopsy AFL 2020 GRAND FINAL - Richmond v Geelong Sat October 24th 7:30pm AEDT/6:30PM AEST (Gabba) Match Highlights in OP

[Seeds]

Have to love all the Richmond fans saying "Oh, Geelong should bring in Ratugolea!" The fact is although he is a good mark when his confidence is up, his kicking for goal is pretty ordinary. He may have kicked 2 goals back in Round 17, but they were two of the least convincing shots at goal you will ever see. In a final, especially against an opponent like Richmond, you need to make the most of your opportunities in front of goal, and we can't rely on him doing that on Saturday night.

Another reason we shouldn't play Ratugolea is that Hawkins performs better when he's not there. In the 12 games Hawkins has played alongside Ratugolea this season, he has kicked 21 goals, but he's kicked 28 goals in the 8 games Ratugolea has missed, and those include games against fellow finalists St.Kilda, Port Adelaide (x2), Collingwood and Brisbane, so it's not like he's only been doing it against teams in the lower half of the ladder.

Absolute rubbish.

and talk about confusing correlation with causility. Geelong was slow to start the season (when rata played most of his games) and finished the season more strongly. Ps. Rata barely played foward this year.

 

[Dr Awkward]

Have to love all the Richmond fans saying "Oh, Geelong should bring in Ratugolea!" The fact is although he is a good mark when his confidence is up, his kicking for goal is pretty ordinary. He may have kicked 2 goals back in Round 17, but they were two of the least convincing shots at goal you will ever see. In a final, especially against an opponent like Richmond, you need to make the most of your opportunities in front of goal, and we can't rely on him doing that on Saturday night.

Another reason we shouldn't play Ratugolea is that Hawkins performs better when he's not there. In the 12 games Hawkins has played alongside Ratugolea this season, he has kicked 21 goals, but he's kicked 28 goals in the 8 games Ratugolea has missed, and those include games against fellow finalists St.Kilda, Port Adelaide (x2), Collingwood and Brisbane, so it's not like he's only been doing it against teams in the lower half of the ladder.

Fair enough, clearly there isn't enough trust in Esava for this occasion. A bit like Chol with us, it would make sense structurally to put him in but just no trust that he can compete.

I was just pointing out that from a Richmond perspective our fans would get slightly nervous if Esava was brought in because he's a bit of an aerial wildcard and in the past we've had some issues there. E.g Cox, Naughton, Esava himself.

 

[enobrien]

Fair enough, clearly there isn't enough trust in Esava for this occasion. A bit like Chol with us, it would make sense structurally to put him in but just no trust that he can compete.

I was just pointing out that from a Richmond perspective our fans would get slightly nervous if Esava was brought in because he's a bit of an aerial wildcard and in the past we've had some issues there. E.g Cox, Naughton, Esava himself.

Spot on mate, wrestlers like Hawkins give our team defence a chance to operate.

Launchers like the ones you mentioned - even though mostly average players - we have issue with.

 

[M Malice]

Disappointed I couldn't get tickets to this one, got in a ticketmaster queue and was 9,000 in line straight up, sold out in 15 minutes.

Looking forward to the game though, match up between the best team of the last 4 years against the most consistent high performing side over the last 12-15 years, tipping the Cats in a classic.

Norm Smith- Mitch Duncan.

 

[catscratchfever]

I agree your outs were big but I think you're underselling the value & importance of Prestia, Edwards & Asbury for us. I would call the outs even in my opinion.

Prestia was our best & fairest last year in a premiership year. Just look at the difference our midfield has become the last 2 weeks especially around stoppages and centre clearances where we were ranked 18th prior.
Also Soldo did his knee midway through the 2nd quarter and Lynch went down 8 mins into the 3rd. We had two key players down for over a quarter and a half. No coincidence Cats kicked 3 of their 4 goals after this and looked threatening to steal the game away from the more overall dominant Tigers. Another thing to add is Richmond kicked 15 or 16 behinds (although some would of been rushed) for a total of 22 to 11 scoring shots.

Geelong were also in super form then as well and were blowing away teams by 10+ goals including the minor premiers and a semi finalist in the lead up to it.

I am actually enjoying the narrative that you guys are in "much better form" now along with the most of media tipping the cats because it allows us to fly under the radar along with the outside distractions of Jeremy Cameron

5

Jeremy Cameron

Age

31

Ht

196cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.5

3star

K

9.0

3star

HB

3.4

3star

M

5.4

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

2.6

5star

D

10.0

3star

K

7.1

3star

HB

2.9

2star

M

4.6

4star

T

2.0

3star

G

1.9

5star

D

8.2

2star

K

5.0

2star

HB

3.2

3star

M

4.6

5star

T

2.4

4star

G

2.0

5star

and Hawkins feeling ill.

All this above does not mean I am confident just pointing out the fact that you were in just as good of form then and we completely shut you down.

It will be a super tough match and Richmond need to bring our best again to knock you off.

My obvious bias tip is Richmond by 5 points with no great confidence. Good luck to both sides.

I don't know if it has been mentioned, but in their previous game Geelong was coming off a 5 day break while Richmond had 9 days to rest. So that was a fair ask coming on top of all the outs and the condensed fixture for Geelong leading into the game.

 

[AFLOnline]

It'd be a completely different tune if your tinpot of a broke club made it though.

What?!

you mean, I would be more excited for a grand final if my team was in it??

no ******* way!!!

 

[Dr Awkward]

I'm praying all week

Really, I'm not praying for rain. Would prefer a dry game because I think the two tall forwards will be harder to stop. Lynch is twice as effective in the dry and not sure Geelong have a good match up there.

 

[CakeEater]

Matt Stevic umpiring ugh

BT is odds on to say best bouncer in the game.

 

[Wojcinski]

Spot on mate, wrestlers like Hawkins give our team defence a chance to operate.

Launchers like the ones you mentioned - even though mostly average players - we have issue with.

I know everyone gives him s**t for going missing but one thing Rohan has provided for us this year has been just flying for marks. He doesn't hold on to too many of them but often creates enough of a contest that our smalls can get their hands on it, or we get a stoppage in the F50. He didn't play vs Richmond last time so Sav kind of played that role but IMO Rohan is much better at it because he also provides F50 pressure when he is up and about.

 

[PhatBoy]

Spot on mate, wrestlers like Hawkins give our team defence a chance to operate.

Launchers like the ones you mentioned - even though mostly average players - we have issue with.

Lol.

He’s not a wrestler.

Does he/can he wrestle? Yes.
He is one of the best leading forwards in the competition. At least 3 of his shots last weekend came from marks on the lead and so did most of his 6 shots against Port.

 

[Billy ray]

So any list of what is actually happening on the day up until bouncedown? On 7 or fox footy?

 

[db26]

Instead of rohan we had first gamer jarvis.

we were missing our ruckman who was close to best on ground against brisbane.

simpson is a big improvement on atkins,

ablett is a massive improvement on Fogarty

selwood is a massive improvement on close.


its not just the players who have come back but who they have replaced.

Well if you think those players don't improve us well your dreaming and there not role players to.That rd 17 game we loss Soldo and Lynch in the game through injuries.

Prestia
Edwards
Astbury
Broad

 

[Vassp]

last time we played Hawkins main strategy was to shove in the back, hope umps are wise to this during the GF.

 

[enobrien]

Lol.

He’s not a wrestler.

Does he/can he wrestle? Yes.
He is one of the best leading forwards in the competition. At least 3 of his shots last weekend came from marks on the lead and so did most of his 6 shots against Port.

If you think Richmond will provide 100 minutes of local league pressure up the field to enable easy hit ups like Brisbane did then you might get a shock Saturday

 

[THE_GUN]

When i hear about Danger being played foward i think that actually suits Richmond perfectly

Richmond strongest area is our defence with our 7 man defensive structure
Astbury - Balta - Grimes
Vlastuin-Short-Houli-Broad

With taking Danger out of the midfield that gives Cotchin,Martin,Prestia,Edwards,Graham a better matchup to win center clearances to get the ball into the foward line for Lynch/Jack and if they cant mark against Taylor / Hendo our smalls either crumb or lock it in.

Since Edwards & Prestia have come back our midfield has become super competitive and just last week against one of the best and biggest clearance teams dominated.

 

[PhatBoy]

If you think Richmond will provide 100 minutes of local league pressure up the field to enable easy hit ups like Brisbane did then you might get a shock Saturday

Yes because that’s what I said.

 

[juss]

There's a lot of "last time" going here, its pretty meaningless. Results in finals get flipped all the time from previous home and away encounters.

I think its 2 teams perfectly matched and balanced given their lead ins. Its at a neutral ground, with a crowd to follow, with both teams spending 100+ days in a hub. You couldn't get a much closer matched GF this year in my view. Every argument can be countered, its a genuine coin toss.

 

[evo]

Really, I'm not praying for rain. Would prefer a dry game because I think the two tall forwards will be harder to stop. Lynch is twice as effective in the dry and not sure Geelong have a good match up there.

Geelong have marking forwards as well.

We are hands down the best wet weather team IMO. Geelong are the keepings off side, and probably the best at it in the comp.

We need the ball on the ground.

 

[Final Siren]

I don't know if it has been mentioned, but in their previous game Geelong was coming off a 5 day break while Richmond had 9 days to rest. So that was a fair ask coming on top of all the outs and the condensed fixture for Geelong leading into the game.

Fun fact: A team with a 5-day break has never defeated a team with a 9-day break.

It's only happened 5 times, all this year:

• R12 Richmond def Gold Coast by 21
• R15 Adelaide def Hawthorn by 36
• R16 Geelong def Essendon by 66
• R16 Western Bulldogs def West Coast by 2
• R17 Richmond def Geelong by 26

 

[jezza1435]

When i hear about Danger being played foward i think that actually suits Richmond perfectly

Richmond strongest area is our defence with our 7 man defensive structure
Astbury - Balta - Grimes
Vlastuin-Short-Houli-Broad

With taking Danger out of the midfield that gives Cotchin,Martin,Prestia,Edwards,Graham a better matchup to win center clearances to get the ball into the foward line for Lynch/Jack and if they cant mark against Taylor / Hendo our smalls either crumb or lock it in.

Since Edwards & Prestia have come back our midfield has become super competitive and just last week against one of the best and biggest clearance teams dominated.

Why are they even bothering having a game this weekend?

 

[G String]

When i hear about Danger being played foward i think that actually suits Richmond perfectly

Richmond strongest area is our defence with our 7 man defensive structure
Astbury - Balta - Grimes
Vlastuin-Short-Houli-Broad

With taking Danger out of the midfield that gives Cotchin,Martin,Prestia,Edwards,Graham a better matchup to win center clearances to get the ball into the foward line for Lynch/Jack and if they cant mark against Taylor / Hendo our smalls either crumb or lock it in.

Since Edwards & Prestia have come back our midfield has become super competitive and just last week against one of the best and biggest clearance teams dominated.

Would love to see Danger start forward - would give the Tigers all the momentum at the start of the game. I cant see it happening tho for this exact reason. Danger will start in he guts and go forward maybe late in the first

 

[Gazza Greatness]

Geelong have marking forwards as well.

We are hands down the best wet weather team IMO. Geelong are the keepings off side, and probably the best at it in the comp.

We need the ball on the ground.

Geelong has completely changed their game style over the past two games especially, they had to, otherwise we had no way of beating the Tigers (to beat the Tiger's the ball 'has to' come into forward line as quickly as possible). Last week we moved the ball quicker from a mark more than any other side this season, Blicav said as much after post-game interview as Geelong players have been instructed to move the ball much quicker. So this talk that is going around at the moment with regards to Richmond's kaos footy vs Geelong trying to control the ball is simply not going to happen, it will be fast ball movement, especially coming out of the backline, now whether that is good enough to beat the Tigers is a entirely different matter but make no mistake Geelong is a far better side when they play this way.

 

[queensberryrules]

I love Cats and Tiges fans trying to convince THEMSELVES why their respective teams will win. Convinced yet?

I was convinced about my degenerates after the Eagles game. What delusion and fairytales were invented from that one game, won by a slender margin?

Ouch!

 

[MisterMarcus]

Fair enough, clearly there isn't enough trust in Esava for this occasion. A bit like Chol with us, it would make sense structurally to put him in but just no trust that he can compete.

I was just pointing out that from a Richmond perspective our fans would get slightly nervous if Esava was brought in because he's a bit of an aerial wildcard and in the past we've had some issues there. E.g Cox, Naughton, Esava himself.

Leaving aside the 'trust' factor, I personally don't think he fits into the current side.

He'd fit in if one of the rucks was missing, or one of our taller backs was injured and Blicavs had to play in defence. But with the Stanley/Blicavs tag team ruck setup doing well, Dangerfield predominantly forward, and our back 6 with plenty of marking power, I don't think there's a spot for him.

 

[rfctigerarmy]

So any list of what is actually happening on the day up until bouncedown? On 7 or fox footy?

If I remember correctly, channel 7 was something like;

- Sunrise (Grand Final edition)
- Grand Final Breakfast
- Cox Plate for the rest of the day
- 6:30pm AFL Grand Final

(this is in Melbourne).

Sounds pretty bad, lets be honest.